Syracuse women’s lacrosse: Orange dismantle Albany, 22-5

You know you’re in for a fun one when the running clock starts in the first quarter.

That was the situation for the Syracuse Orange women’s lacrosse team on Wednesday evening in the JMA Dome, where they dispatched of the Albany Great Danes in easy fashion with a 22-5 win to move to 5-0 on the season.

An absolute barrage of a first quarter put ‘Cuse up 11-1, put the game out of reach, and started the running clock for the final 45 minutes.

Every phase of the game was great for SU. The offense moved the ball well and created tons of scoring chances early and often. The defense created turnovers and limited Albany’s scoring opportunities. Delaney Sweitzer was again tremendous in goal. Kate Mashewske dominated on draws. It was a complete, comprehensive performance.

The offense had another exceptional shooting game, finishing 22-of-32 for 68.8 percent. In addition, their teamwork was on full display as they assisted on almost every goal; 17 of 22 to be exact. The team scored a pair of free-position goals, meaning only three goals all day from the run of play were unassisted. This team knows how to find each other.

The scoring was fueled in this one by the trio of Meaghan Tyrrell (3G, 4A), Meg Carney (5G, 2A), and Emma Ward (2G, 5A), all of whom finished with seven points. Olivia Adamson had a strong day with five points (3G, 2A), while five different players had two points: Natalie Smith (2G), Sierra Cockerille (2G), Savannah Sweitzer (2G), Tessa Queri (1G, 1A), and Emma Tyrrell (2A).

In total, seven players scored multiple goals, nine players scored multiple points, and 12 players scored at least one point. Gracie Britton scored her first career goal in the fourth quarter and got so excited she tackled Savannah Sweitzer to the ground, which was a pretty cool show of emotion.

For the second straight game, the defense made it almost impossible for their opponent to even generate shots on goal let alone quality looks that could create finishes. After holding Pitt to only 10 shots on goal (16 total), the defense this time held Albany to only 11 shots on goal (12 total). You can’t win a game when a defense suffocates you that much.

When the Great Danes did manage to get shots off, Delaney Sweitzer was once again there to be a wall in front of cage. Sweitzer came away with six saves while only surrendering two goals before being taken out in the third quarter after saving an outstanding 75 percent of her shots faced.

Kate Mashewske was completely dominant on the day, helping the Orange to a 23-5 advantage on the draw circle. Kate did most of the work herself, coming away with 17 draw wins, the second-best single-game total of her career.

All in all, the ladies continued to crush it in this one.

The Orange will be back in action this weekend for their second ACC game when the Virginia Tech Hokies come to town on Sunday, March 5 for a morning game that starts at 11 AM on ACC Network Extra.